Officer wins appeal of firing; IA criticized

Case centered on allegations of slurs.

Updated 11:08 pm, Monday, June 24, 2013

Lee Rakun gathers information at an accident many years ago. After the third time facing termination, the police lieutenant will return to work. (San Antonio Express-News file photo)

Lee Rakun gathers information at an accident many years ago. After the third time facing termination, the police lieutenant will return to work. (San Antonio Express-News file photo)

Officer wins appeal of firing; IA criticized

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San Antonio police Lt. Lee Rakun won an appeal of his termination and will return to work as soon as the paperwork is complete.

Rakun had been placed on indefinite suspension, tantamount to being fired, last year — the 15th disciplinary action taken against him in his 19-year career and the third time he faced termination.

An arbitrator ruled last week that Police Chief William McManus shouldn't have fired Rakun on July 10 after allegations he got into a drunken argument and spewed racial slurs at a Bexar County deputy constable working security at an Alamo Heights restaurant and bar.

Also, for the second time in a high-profile case, the ruling criticized the internal affairs investigation as being biased against the officer.

Rakun has always denied using ethnic or racial slurs and at the time of the firing his lawyers said the firing was undeserved and based on a bias against him because of his checkered past.

The arbitrator agreed, partially. He upheld two of the four violations for which Rakun was fired, deciding instead on a 45-day suspension. “No two cases are alike, but ... I detect a general tendency for the Chief of Police to award suspensions ranging from 30 to 45 days to officers who make serious but non-career ending violations,” arbitrator William L. McKee wrote.

“While we're glad he gets his job back, he completely, unequivocally denies that,” Brehm said about the offensive comments. “He never said anything like that.”

Like the majority of his other suspensions, the latest stemmed from his personal life. On Jan. 14, 2012, Rakun along with a few family members and friends rented a limo and were taking part in a scavenger hunt sponsored by Silo. No one can agree on what occurred.

Deputy Constable Christopher Ahumada, the security guard that night, accused Rakun of becoming belligerent when Ahumada refused to let him into Silo because he was carrying a bottle of liquor. Ahumada alleged Rakun tried to use his position at SAPD to get into the bar, threatened to get him fired and called him offensive names like “Beaner,” the ruling said.

Not so, Rakun said, adding he was only taking in the bottle because the label was part of the scavenger hunt, the ruling said. He took the bottle back to the limo and tried to get back inside; Ahumada was the one being confrontational.

“The facts of this case are highly disputed,” the ruling said, adding the city's witness statements were riddled with inconsistencies. “There are credibility concerns with respect to every single fact witness.”

McKee's ruling also said the lead investigator on the case wasn't as objective or as “open-minded” as he should have been.

More Information

Use of intoxicants: The arbitrator found there was no evidence to suggest Rakun was “falling down” drunk or couldn’t report to duty for his next shift. Rakun also told a supervisor of his plans that night and got a limo. But, by being drunk in public view he violated this rule.

Conduct and Behavior: The arbitrator decided the limo driver was the most credible witness and that it was likely Rakun made a comment that seemed derogatory about Mexicans.

NOT PROVEN

Truthfulness: The city said Rakun violated this rule twice, the first time by telling the security guard he was a captain instead of a lieutenant and the second time when he denied to internal affairs all of the allegations against him. The arbitrator ruled there was no evidence he ever stated his rank; he also said he was reluctant to say someone violated a rule of truthfulness because they didn’t admit to charges.

Rakun's 14th suspension in 2010 — and his second firing — involved allegations of abuse by his then-ex-girlfriend. That case also involved a lot of he-said, she-said and in the end the chief worked out a deal that Rakun could come back.

All of his other disciplinary issues were dealt with before McManus became chief.